Darkest Knight (22 page)

The guards took Anna back to her cell. As they opened the door and pushed her in, she automatically looked to John. The bed was empty.

“Wait.”

One of the guards turned.

“Where is he?”

“Lord Denby had the bandit taken to see the physician.”

“But he hates John.”

The man heaved a long-suffering sigh. “I know not what goes through the minds of nobles.”

The hours passed excruciatingly slowly. As evening turned to night, she could hear prisoners moaning as they fell asleep. Hear the guards laughing and talking to each other. It was full dark and still he had not returned. She stayed awake as long as she could.

“I demand to see John Thornton.”

Robert Thornton stood with hands on hips, arguing with the guard. Exasperated, he held out a bag of coins.

“For your troubles?”

The guard licked his lips, reached out, and snatched it back.

“I cannot. Lord Denby threatened to kill us if we allow you to see the bandit or his woman.”

“Bloody hell. Denby has gone too far.” Robert stomped away from the guard and went back to his carriage. At the tavern where the Thornton brothers had taken lodging, he strode through the doors and kicked at the table.

“I take it you did not see him,” Edward said.

“Denby has forbidden the guards to let us see John or Anna.”

“Denby has lost his wits. ’Tis time for us to take action.” Christian paced back and forth across the floor.

“Edward. You should go home,” Robert said.

“The hell I will. I will not leave John to die.”

Robert watched as Henry leaned forward, putting his hand on Edward’s shoulder. His brother always had the ability to calm Edward before he went into a rage.

“Robert is right. You should stand apart. The king may no longer favor you if we press forward.”

“Damnation. John is my brother. I will not let him die because some arrogant whoreson is jealous over a wife he cared nothing about. Letitia is dead. He parades his new wife before the king to offer her as mistress. He cares not for women.”

Christian grinned. “With all of us together, the king will have to agree.”

“Aye,” Henry said. “William and James will stand with us. Whatever is needed. Gold, men. They will aid us.”

Edward stood up, placing his palms flat on the table. He looked around the room and spoke in a low voice, full of controlled anger.

“We will offer enough gold and men that the king will not refuse. When the war is over, we will likely suffer for daring to push him into a corner. I care not. I lost John once. I will not lose him again. Will you stand with me, brothers?”

Robert spoke first: “I will stand.”

“As will I,” said Henry.

 
“’Tis only gold. Easy enough to come by. I don’t have as many men as the rest of you, but I will send all that I can. I will stand with you, brothers.” Christian slammed a fist on the table.

“So be it,” Edward said. “I will seek an audience with the king today.”

Robert sat in the chair, tipping it back. “We will get John back. Denby will die for his treachery. And later, if the king goes against us, let his men come.”

All morning long, Anna paced back and forth, frantic with worry over John. After lunch, which they all called dinner, she was trying to come up with plans to escape when she heard a commotion.

The guards were coming. She peered into the gloom. They were dragging someone. The door to his cell opened and they tossed John on the bed. His face was battered and bruised. Blood spattered his tunic.

“What did you do to him? He’s sick. You’re going to kill him.”

“He was tended to by the physician.” It was the guard who had been the least mean to her that spoke. Two of the guards chuckled as they turned their backs and left.

Anna leaned against the bars staring at John.

“What happened?”

“Denby and I had a difference of opinion,” he rasped out.

“I hate that wretched man.”

John rolled to his side with a grunt and opened an eye. The other one was swollen shut. In the light coming in from the window in his cell, his normally golden skin looked gray.

“You were alone with Denby. Did he harm you in any way?”

She waved a hand. “I’m fine.”

“Tell me.”

“He gave me this.” She pulled the locket from her pallet and held it through the bars. John tried to get up but fell back on the bed. He managed to lean up on his elbow, and squinted toward the object.

“A locket?”

“He said you were going to give it to me.”

“Nay. That is not the locket I had made for you. The jeweler making the piece was to mount a large emerald on the front. To match your eyes. Denby stole it, or someone else did.” He coughed and coughed, the rattling sound making Anna go cold all over.

He reached for a cup on the table and took a long drink.

“I had a portrait made for you.”

Tears filled her eyes. “I know. He showed it to me and then he ripped it in half and threw it in the fire. I was able to grab the bottom half.” She opened the locket, reaching out as far as she could to show him.

“Did you like it?”

“Of course. You are the most handsome man I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

“More so than my brothers? Christian will be wounded.”

“I haven’t seen Christian yet. But I know you are the most handsome of all your brothers.”

He feebly reached in his pouch, pulling out her lock of hair, rubbing it back and forth between his fingers.

“I would keep you with me always. I thought to have your portrait made for me. To carry with your lock of hair.”

She wiped the tears away, sniffling. “I would like that very much. What is supposed to go on the other side of my locket next to your portrait?”

He was silent for so long that she was afraid he had lost consciousness. She’d started to call for the guards when she heard his voice. More of a whisper.

“Have you tried? Can you go back?”

“No. I cannot. I’ve tried and tried.”

“I am sorry, my love. I know how much you worry over your sire. And I feel like a bastard for being happy to have you with me. Before we were captured, I had hoped you would do me the honor of becoming my wife.

“I would have a portrait of our children painted for the other side of your locket. But you would be the wife of an outlaw and a traitor to the crown. The wife of a fallen lord with no title. I had no right to ask one so full of goodness as you.”

“I don’t care about your title. I don’t care about any of it. I care about you. The man.”

“If we weren’t here, awaiting our deaths, would you marry me, Anna Waters?”

“Yes. I would marry you.” Anna had put aside romance novels after her mother died. She thought there was no more room in her life for romance. But it seemed there was room; she just had to fall through time to find it. If she had been sent back because John was the man for her then why would the powers that be take them away from each other?

“I love you, John Thornton. No matter how much time we have left.”

He didn’t speak.

“John?”

She saw the rise and fall of his chest and exhaled a grateful breath that he had fallen asleep.

“If there’s anyone up there listening, please don’t let him die.”

For the first time since she was imprisoned, the guards came and led Anna out of the tower.

“Where we going?”

“Lord Denby says you may walk in the garden.”

Something fishy was going on. But she was grateful to be out in the sun and see the sky for the first time in a week, so she didn’t complain. They took her to the garden adjoining one of the towers. There was a chill in the air but she didn’t care. Anna slipped off her shoes, feeling the grass between her toes. She touched the flowers and the leaves, tilting her face to the sun.

Maybe this was a good sign. Could John’s brothers be inside securing their release? As much as she had been inside over the past years, she was grateful for any chance to go outside. Whenever she got a break at work, Anna would slip out to enjoy the sun and the breeze on her skin.

In a much better mood, she followed the guards back inside and down the corridors to her cell. Wait. His cell was empty again.

“Has John been taken back to the physician? I thought he looked a little bit better when I woke.”

Instead of answering, they pushed her in the cell and locked the door without meeting her eyes. Her heart started to beat erratically.

“Where is he? Please. Tell me.”

Fear reached up and wrapped itself around her heart and throat, making it hard to breathe.

“Did you enjoy your time in the garden?”

Anna whirled around to see Lord Denby.

“Is John with the physician again? Surely that’s good.”

“You do not know?”

His voice sounded funny. As if it were muffled.

“Let me be the first to tell you. John is dead.”

She blinked, turning the words over and over in her mind. No, that couldn’t be right. He must’ve meant something else.

“No. He’s sick but he seemed a better this morn.”

“It is a good day. The bandit of the wood is dead.”

Little black spots danced before her eyes and the sound of wind filled her ears. Then there was nothing.

Anna woke to find herself on the floor. Had she fainted? Her head felt like it was full of cotton.

“What a horrible dream.” She turned to tell John about the awful nightmare and saw the empty cell. But it wasn’t a nightmare. It was true. He was gone.

She pulled her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth. Horrible noises came from deep within her chest, the sounds more animal than human.

One of the guards shouted at her, “Hush, wench.”

Anna lifted her head. “Please send for his brothers. They must know.”

The guard shook his head. “There is naught I can do.”

Anna screamed and cried until her voice gave out. Unseeing, she rocked back and forth, the grief penetrating every cell of her body. Somehow, she’d had the ridiculous thought she would be prepared if it came to this. If he didn’t get better. When her mother died, Anna thought she’d never smile again, but losing John…
 

If it was possible, his death ripped her insides apart. Just when she’d come to accept her love for him, to know he loved her in return…he was stolen away. How could life be so incredibly cruel?